Bosnia and Herzegovina: Ex-Presidential Candidate Radoncic Arrested

State police arrested media mogul and politician Fahrudin Radoncic Monday on suspicion of obstructing justice, according to a statement by the state Prosecutor’s Office.

The AP reported that authorities also raided three locations in search of evidence.

Radoncic, the leader of the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB) and former owner of Bosnia's biggest-circulation newspaper, "Dnevni Avaz," has been the focus of a media firestorm since one of the top members of his political party, Bakir Dautbasic, was arrested on Jan. 11.

Prosecutors say Dautbasic, the SBB’s candidate for Minister of Communications and Transport, tried to pressure a witness into providing false testimony at the ongoing trial against suspected drug kingpin Naser Kelmendi in Kosovo.

Kelmendi is suspected of leading an organized crime group that moved large amounts of drugs through a network linking Afghanistan, Turkey and the European Union. Radonic was called as a witness at the trial, but the indictment also named him as an alleged associate in planning the murder of Bosnian mobster Ramiz "Celo" Delalic in 2007.

An OCCRP investigation, The Two Bosses, detailed the relationship between Radoncic and Kelmendi and the events that led up to Delalic’s murder. Radoncic said last week he would testify at the trial and insisted that Dautbasic is innocent of witness tampering.

Radoncic is currently in custody awaiting hearing.

The article was corrected on January 26th to reflect that Bakir Dautbasic is the SBB candidate for the post of Minister of Communications and Transport. OCCRP regrets the error.